A Year Older, A Year Wiser
by Tigereye77
Summary: With age comes wisdom and chasing down another serial killer. It's Prentiss' birthday and they're on the road, again. Usually, they always remember the date, but this year, they've forgotten. Who will save the day? Just a little romantic ditty.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: All I can say about "Painless", last night's Criminal Minds episode is "eeeeee!" However, that episode sort of messes up my little story here. So for the purposes of this story, those lovely scenes last night, didn't happen. This story is in honor of Emily Prentiss' birthday which was yesterday, October 12****th****. I thought I would have it done last night, but I'm not satisfied with the last part of it. It was supposed to be a one shot, but it's running just a tad long, so it'll be about a three, maybe four shot depending on where I make the breaks. This story isn't also directly connected with my NCIS/CM crossover, but for the sake of one part of the story, Team Hotch knows Team Gibbs, some better than others. And yes, it is a romance, so keep that in mind when reading this part and the next one. It's a romance. Enjoy!**

There were many reasons to hate certain days. The day you found out Santa Claus wasn't real. The day you were humiliated before the entire school when Billy Wagner broke up with you because he had finally gotten into your pants and no longer wanted anything else from you. The day your parents divorced. The day your grandfather died. Certain days that you had no desire to remember, but couldn't forget because the scars were so deep. This was one of those days.

It wasn't that this day in particular had been always been bad. Some years have been quite good, but the last few years had been downright disasters. For some unknown reason, the gods had conspired to make Emily Prentiss' birthday coincide with a case. For three years running she found herself on the road chasing the dregs of humanity through their manmade house of horrors on her birthday.

Her friends had tried to make it up to her. Her BAU teammates always felt bad that they were on the road when it was her birthday and they could provide neither party nor presents. So each time they tried to scrounge up something special for her, but the pickings were usually slim. They would offer to throw her a party once they were back home, but the last thing Emily wanted to do was celebrate after a long grueling case and as the weeks slipped by, the idea of a party would typically fade. They would try to make things up to her individually. JJ and Garcia always took her out for a girls, whatever, spa treatment, lunch, shopping trip, one year all three over a Saturday. Rossi would offer her a personally home cooked meal. With Derek and Reid there would be dinner and maybe a movie. Hotch would offer to take her to lunch, an enormous gesture on his part since he often skipped that meal himself or would eat something convenient like yogurt or a granola bar at his desk. While all these gestures were nice, they lacked a certain specialness about them. They would have likely done these things anyway had it not been her birthday. But Emily never complained. It was nice that some effort had been made.

This year was different and not in a good way. She had just recently returned to the unit and the majority of the team was still adjusting to her being "alive". Emily expected nothing, not even an acknowledgement of her birthday because of the still simmering and uncertain feelings between herself and some of the others. While things appeared to be okay, she knew there were still some questions, some doubts, some mistrust between herself and Derek and Reid. Add to that the yet to be fully repaired relationship between Hotch and Morgan, celebrating her birthday was probably the last thing on anyone's mind.

It also didn't help that they had been slammed with back-to-back-to-back cases for the past month. They have had almost no downtime between their cases and were once again on the road, this time in Cincinnati, Ohio. They had been there for nearly a week, so long that the conference room the local police had given them to use as their base of operations was becoming comfortably familiar. No one had mentioned her birthday, not in the days leading up to it, nor today, the actual day itself.

If asked if she minded, Emily would have laughed and shook her head. Of course not, who wants to be reminded that they were getting older? But a part of her was a little bothered by it. They forgot her birthday. Coupled with all that had happened in the past year, she couldn't help but feel the gnawing insecurity in her stomach. Maybe when she was "dead", they were starting to forget about her, the pain was leaving them. Was it a good idea to come back? Maybe she should have stayed gone. Logically, she couldn't have done that given Declan's kidnapping, but where her team was concerned, perhaps they were better off without her.

No one would have guessed by looking at her placid, pretty face that these dark thoughts were swirling around Emily Prentiss' head. None of her team members had because, like many of their cases, the one on hand had consumed all of their attention and thoughts. It wasn't until there was a knock on the doorway of the conference room they were all gathered in, pouring over once again the background information on the victims that anyone had an inkling that today might hold a bit of significance.

They looked up and were surprised to see the detective they had been working with, Detective John Stanford, standing with a young marine who was holding a large vase filled with two dozen yellow roses.

"Excuse me, Agent Prentiss?" Stanford said as he addressed the pretty FBI agent he had been admiring all week with a grin. "This is Sergeant Wilson and he has a special delivery for you." He stepped aside to let the young man into the room.

"Ma'am," the Marine said in a respectful tone. "Gunnery Sergeant, Special Agent Gibbs requested that I make this delivery to you and to wish you a Happy Birthday. He said that as soon as you get back let him know and you'll have your traditional birthday dinner."

Emily's lips tilted up into a soft smile listening to the speech given by the young soldier who Gibbs had somehow managed to convince to make this delivery. "Thank you, Sergeant. It was very kind of you to make this effort."

The Marine blushed. "It was no trouble at all, ma'am. Agent Gibbs simply asked and I was happy to be of service. Agent Gibbs served with my father in the Gulf War and saved my dad's life. This was the least I could do for him." He nodded his head. "Happy Birthday, ma'am. I guess it means it'll be legal for you to drink now." He gave her a saucy look before nodding again and leaving the room.

Emily chuckled as Detective Stanford came forward to admire the roses and the birthday girl.

"You should have let us know it was your birthday, Emily," Stanford said. At some time during the week he had started to call her by her first name, much to the annoyance of a certain team leader who had been watching everything with sharp eyes. "We would have brought in a cake for you."

She waved her had dismissively. "Don't worry about it. I almost forgot it was my birthday."

"Oh Em," JJ cried out apologetically. "I'm so sorry! I should have remembered. I know it's not an excuse, but with all these cases coming at us the last few weeks…"

Emily laughed it off and patted her friend's arm. "JJ, don't worry about it. Who wants to be reminded they're getting older?" She playfully grimaced. "It's alright."

"No it's not," Rossi declared. "It was thoughtless of us. We'll make it up to you tonight. Stanford, let me know what's the best restaurant in town. I'll make a reservation. My treat tonight."

"Really, you guys don't have to-," Prentiss began to protest, suddenly embarrassed to find herself the center of attention. She may have felt a little hurt that they forgot her birthday, but she was over it now.

"Oh no, Princess," Morgan broke in. "We have to have at least a birthday dinner, complete with a cake."

"Guys, its sweet, but the case-"

"We have to celebrate, Emily," Spencer said earnestly.

"Prentiss has made it clear that she doesn't want go out tonight and I agree with her that we need to work on the case. That is why we're here."

They all stared at Hotch, his cool, authoritative voice throwing a bucket of ice water over everyone. Even Rossi was looking at him in surprise and a hint of anger in his eyes. Emily simply felt her face growing warmer with each passing second as Hotch looked at her with his cold, flat eyes as though it was her fault for causing a disruption. She dropped her head in embarrassment and began to blindly shift through the files on the table to give her something to do.

The others noted her discomfort and with looks ranging from anger to disbelief hurled at Hotch, followed her lead and returned to the case.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you for the very nice reviews. Remember, I said this was a romance so you'll have to hang in there with the story. It is coming soon.**

Emily didn't understand why Hotch had been so cold and angry towards her and so dismissive about her birthday. While not the biggest party goer, he had always wished her a happy birthday before, gotten her some small gift and taken her out to lunch. Today he had only shown irritation and anger and she was confused by his treatment. She would have put it down as general frustration with the case and exhaustion, they have been working non-stop for weeks on several consecutive cases, except she had noticed a shift in their relationship since she had been back.

In the weeks leading up to her confrontation with Doyle in Boston, she had avoided Hotch as much as possible. She could tell Derek to butt out of her life and knew he would respect her wishes. She could hide her distress from everyone else. But Hotch would a) notice something was bothering her and b) wouldn't let up until he found out what was wrong. Hence her making sure the two of them were rarely left alone for any amount of time. Before that, they had fallen into an easy friendship where she actually felt he was allowing her to see more of that private Aaron Hotchner and she was beginning to open up to him. Their working relationship had improved by leaps and bounds until they were so in synch, they were almost finishing each other's thoughts, each anticipating the other's next move or needs.

However since her return, he had been distant with her. Aloof. Emily thought it was anger over putting him in a situation where he was forced to lie to the others. She understood and had also held herself back, willing to give him space. But he had never spoken to her as sharply as he had this morning. It reminded her of when she first started at the BAU. She quelled a sigh. It looked like yet another victim to Doyle and her past was whatever friendship she had with Hotch.

These thoughts were running through her head as she absently dunked the fresh tea bag in the hot water-filled mug before her. She felt someone come up to her and saw JJ sidling up. The blonde grabbed an empty mug and poured some coffee into it.

"How are you holding up?" JJ asked, her blue eyes filled with concern.

Emily blinked at her and gave her a puzzled smile. "I'm fine. Well, other than being frustrated in not finding something on this UNSUB. Why do you ask?"

JJ glanced around. "Well, we did all flake on you and forget your birthday and it took Gibbs who's hundreds of miles away to remind us. Really, that was so sweet of him." She gazed significantly at the brunette. "And romantic. So what's going on with him? Birthday dinner tradition?" She waggled her eyebrows.

For the first time that day, Emily felt like laughing. She opted to smile and shake her head. "Gibbs? Sorry JJ, nothing there but good friends. The man might come off as a hard ass, and well, he actually is, but there's a really sweet guy underneath all that. He feels bad that for the last couple of years I've had to deal with serial killers on my birthday so he just makes sure that I have a nice dinner each year to make up for it in some way."

JJ gave her a skeptical look. "He went through all the trouble to find a Marine in town who could hand deliver roses to you and you say it's all because he feels bad about your lousy past birthdays?"

"JJ, we're friends and come on, who on their birthday falls into a container of body parts, the following birthday nearly gets decapitated by a pedophile and the next birthday gets sprayed by a skunk, chased by a bear and has an unsub try to re-enact William Tell on her? After hearing all that, the man felt bad for me."

"Well," JJ acknowledged grudgingly, "I can see where he might want to do something nice for you." She gave her friend a sly look. "I bet if he heard all this, it would probably be a relief to Hotch."

Emily was confused. "Why would it be a relief to Hotch?"

JJ looked at her in surprise. "You're joking, right?" From the look on her friend's face, it was clear Emily had no idea what JJ was talking about. The small blonde laughed. "Em, Hotch is jealous of Gibbs!"

"Jealous about what?" Emily's wrinkled brow and completely perplexed look sent JJ off into another round of laughter.

"You and Gibbs! Hotch thinks you and Gibbs have something going on and he's jealous." JJ shook her head, surprised she had to spell everything out to her usually perceptive friend.

It was Emily's turn to laugh. "JJ, you aren't serious, are you?" Seeing the look on her friend's face, Emily laughed again. "The last thing Hotch is, is jealous. And of Gibbs and me? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

JJ stared at her friend and realization dawned on her. "You don't know, do you? About what Hotch did to protect you?"

"JJ, of course I know. He lied to everyone and I feel terrible for putting him in that position."

"No, Emily, you don't know that it was all his idea. Every single detail of it and he forced everyone, I mean everyone, State, the CIA, even the FBI Director, to go along with it."

The brunette looked at her blonde friend in surprise. "It was Hotch's plan? He convinced all those agencies?"

JJ snorted. "More like strong-armed. Em, I've never seen him that way. We weren't certain if you were going to make it when we got you to the hospital. Hotch _threatened_ the doctors, saying if they didn't save you, they were going to deal with him and his look meant when he was through with them, they'd likely be needing their own doctors. Then he got on the phone immediately and pitched his plan. He wasn't going to take no for an answer. He used every chit, pulled every string, used every contact he had. Hotch dropped your mother's name, your father's name, I think he even went all the way back to your grandfather and then he started trotting out _his_ family tree. He reminded everyone how much they owed you because they neglected to protect the JTF members in the first place and never bothered to warn you about Doyle."

"Hotch blackmailed them?"

JJ nodded. "He did whatever it took. He wasn't taking no for an answer."

Emily blinked, overwhelmed by this new information. She had assumed it was a joint decision to fake her death and Hotch and JJ just carried out their parts. She had no inkling that Hotch had masterminded the entire thing.

She shook her head. "He must really regret it now," she said softly.

JJ gasped and reached out to touch Emily's arm. "Why are you saying something like that?"

Emily glanced around making sure no one was in earshot. The last she needed was for Hotch to overhear their conversation. "JJ, look at how he's acted around me since I've been back. He's barely spoken three words to me that haven't been related to a case or work." She thought a moment. "Scratch that, he's _only_spoken to me about work items."

"Oh come, on, you're exaggerating," JJ scoffed. She thought back over the nearly two months that have passed since Emily returned to the BAU and frowned as she went over her memories. Surely she saw them at some point talking to each other, just casual conversation? While Hotch was never one for chit-chatting, he did speak to each of them about other things besides work. "He hasn't even asked how you've been adjusting?"

Emily shook her head. "Only in how it relates to the job. 'How are you feeling getting back into the swing of things' type of questions." She shrugged. "I can't blame him. I put him in an uncomfortable position."

Her friend tried to play it off, but JJ could see Emily was upset. JJ's frown deepened. While she couldn't think of a time she saw Hotch and Emily speaking to each other, she just somehow _knew_ Hotch wasn't upset with her friend. But why was that?

It hit her then. The reason she thought everything was fine from Hotch's end was because he hadn't been acting like he was upset with Emily. JJ saw the smiles, the long glances. She saw how he focused on her friend and always seemed to be aware of where Emily was at all times. It also hadn't escaped her attention that when it was clear Luke Dolan had penetrated the FBI and was heading straight for the BAU bullpen, it was _Emily_ Hotch made sure was securely and safely tucked away with Dolan's family. Granted, Emily had been the agent most in contact with Mrs. Dolan and her daughter, but Hotch actually did not need her with him. He was the one who had coached Mrs. Dolan through that tense time, not Emily.

All the little things Hotch did appeared different in this new light. The intense stares, the reluctance to leave Prentiss' side, the just slightly softer tone he took when speaking to her friend. For Hotch, that was kid glove treatment. He still paired Emily often with Morgan, but JJ had a sneaking suspicion it was because aside from himself, Morgan was the only other person Hotch trusted to look out for Emily's safety. Beyond the physical strength and skill of the other man that only the unit leader could match, Hotch knew that after nearly, and believing for several months, that he had lost Emily, Morgan would do whatever it took to make sure the woman stayed safe. Hotch was possibly using Morgan's own guilt for his personal purposes: protect Emily at all costs.

_This __wasn__'__t __about __you. __Or __me. __It __was __about __saving __Emily__'__s __life._

The two men hadn't known she had overheard their conversation, but she saw the impact Hotch's words had on Derek. Yes, hearing those words, not only dissipated Morgan's anger at Hotch, JJ, and Emily, it was almost an agreement between the two men of what was important, protecting the lovely brunette. Both JJ and Hotch knew that Derek would do whatever was needed to make sure they would never lose Emily Prentiss again. And that suited Hotch just fine.

But why then, was he avoiding Emily? It was something that was obvious enough to cause her friend distress. JJ felt terrible that she couldn't alleviate the other woman's anxiety in any way, especially given the way Hotch had reacted this morning. While JJ believed it was a sign of jealousy, Emily saw it as evidence of a rift between them. JJ started to say something, an effort to make Emily believe that Hotch wasn't truly angry with her when they were interrupted.

"Prentiss! JJ!" Morgan leaned his head into the small kitchen the women were standing in. "Come on, we've caught a break."

* * *

><p><strong>AN 2: ****Don't forget that the 2nd Annual Profilers Choice Award for Criminal Minds fiction is now open for nominations. I think this weekend is the last day you can send in a nomination ballot. The ballots are found in the discussion forum (when in the list of stories for the CM fan fiction section, look to the top right hand corner of your screen and you'll see a link for "Discussion Forums"), Chit Chat on Authors Corner, 2011 Profilers Choice CM Awards - Nomination Ballot.**

**Thanks again for reading, and please leave some feedback if you can. Merci!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: All is revealed here. Hope you enjoy!**

It was a little after eight pm when the BAU team dragged their weary bodies back to their hotel. The break they had caught earlier that day had resulted in an arrest and a successful end to a case that had frustrated and rattled all of them. Despite Hotch's coldness that morning and the fact that the entire team had forgotten it was her birthday, Emily thought this day was a pretty successful one if it meant putting an animal like their UNSUB in jail and she didn't get sprayed, chased, injured or nearly injured or dropped into a big container with human body parts. Overall, it was a lot better than her last few birthdays. Right now, she was looking forward to taking a hot shower, maybe dig out a chocolate bar she had in her go bag and sleep until tomorrow morning.

"Everyone, hang on, I want to do a debriefing tonight," Hotch said before they could all make a break for their rooms.

They turned stunned eyes towards the tall, dark haired man who only stared blandly back at them.

"Hotch," Rossi cried out in disbelief. "You can't be serious."

Hotch frowned at him. "Of course I am. It shouldn't have taken us so long to capture Tom Jacobs. There's something off about our team dynamics and I want it cleared up now before we get another case." His eyes bored into Emily's.

She wanted to shrink back. He was singling her out as the cause of the disruption in the team. Hotch was blaming _her_. Anger welled up inside of her. _Fine!_ She thought angrily. _If __the __Almighty __Tight __Ass __Aaron __Hotchner __wants __to __turn __her __into __a __punching __bag __on __her __BIRTHDAY, __she __could __take __it!_

Emily tilted her chin up defiantly and said, "Fine. Maybe the air should be cleared." Because she had a few choice words for him as well.

Hotch ignored the reproachful looks of the other team members and focused solely on Emily. "Glad to hear your willingness to do this, Prentiss," came his cool reply. He inclined his head towards the left. "The hotel has kindly set aside a room for us to use tonight."

"Lead the way," she drawled out in an equally chilly tone.

Hotch turned and started walking in the direction he had indicated. Emily followed immediately after him and the others trailed behind, exchanging uneasy glances with each other.

When they reached a door, Hotch held it open for her to walk in before him. Emily, her head held high, stepped into the darken room before stopping a short distance in from the door. It was pitch black. Not even the light from the hallway was able to penetrate more than a few feet into the room. She wasn't going to go stumbling around in the dark so she waited until someone turned on the lights.

"Let me get the light switch," she heard Hotch say.

A few seconds later, the lights came on in the room and it took almost a full minute for everything to penetrate Emily's brain enough for her to comprehend what she was seeing.

The lights Hotch had turned on were not the typical overhead lights in a hotel meeting room. They were actually hundreds upon hundreds of twinkling white Christmas tree lights strung among the bare branches of small, white birch trees that were placed in a curve around the room to create a private forest with a cleared out space in the center of the room. In the small, cleared space was a large table elaborately dressed with white linens and fine china plates and name cards at each seat. A low, but lovely center piece of white roses and lilies ran down the center of the table, delicately scenting the air with their sweet fragrances. Small votive candles were scattered around the flowers, emitting a soft glow that would bathed those seated in a warm light. A large picture window provided an inky night sky as a back drop contrasting sharply with the white scene and the hundreds of twinkling lights reflecting back into the room and simulating the stars. The floor was covered in a white cloth and a path of delicate pale, pink rose petals strewn on the floor led to the table in the center. It was a white, fairy-tale setting that rendered everyone speechless.

In this sea of white, Penelope Garcia stood out in her electric blue dress and green cardigan, smiling widely at a stunned Emily Prentiss.

"Happy Birthday, Em!" the tech analyst screeched out before she ran forward to embrace a still speechless Prentiss.

"Baby Girl?" Morgan asked in an uncertain voice as he continued to look around the room. "Did you do all this?"

"Sorry, can't take credit for this awesome set up," Garcia said as she released a still silent Emily. "It was all our fearless leader's doing."

That finally loosened Emily's tongue. "Hotch?" she squeaked out. She turned to look at the man in question who wore a slightly smug expression on his face.

He was still standing over by the light switch, behind the rest of his stunned team. Hearing his name, Hotch moved forward, walking between his gawking agents to stand by her side. He allowed his eyes to fill with warmth as he looked down into her bewildered ones. "Happy birthday, Emily," he said softly, a small smile curling his lips.

She was stunned. Confused. Emily didn't know what to think about…anything. She stared back into his eyes, not understanding what was going on or why. She felt Garcia tug excitedly on her arm.

"Isn't this great? Hotch called me two days ago and said if the case didn't break by the time your birthday rolled around, I was to get my bodacious booty over here and bring everyone's birthday present."

"Wait, how did you get her present from me?" Reid asked.

Garcia snorted. "Please, remember we all have keys to each other's places, just in case. Or in JJ's case, Will just gave it to me." She wrinkled her nose. "Derek, we're going to have to have a talk about what you keep in the bottom of your dresser drawer."

"Let's all sit down!" Morgan hastily interrupted, dragging Penelope towards the table. JJ , Rossi and Reid followed them as Emily continued to be rooted to the floor. Hotch stood next to her, gazing at her with a mixture of amusement and warmth in his eyes.

"Cat got your tongue, Agent Prentiss?" he teased gently.

"I can't believe you did all this," she breathed out, her eyes still wide and wondering as she looked at the magical white forest he had created for her.

"Well," he said a bit sheepishly, "Your last few birthdays haven't exactly been the greatest ones. We always seem to be on the road on that day. I thought for once you deserved to have your birthday celebrated on the actual day and where there are no skunks or bears around."

"But Hotch," she waved her hands wordlessly at the lovely setting. "This is all too much!"

He tilted his head to the side as he looked at the fairytale setting. "I thought it was pretty understated," he deadpanned.

Emily chuckled and then almost lost her breath when she felt his hand drop to the small of her back. He gently nudged her forward. "Come, let's sit down."

As he helped Emily into her seat and then took his on her left, the others also sat down.

"Hotch, man, how did you pull this off?" Derek asked as suddenly servers appeared from some discreet door in the wall and began to pour the wine and placed the first course in front of them.

Hotch shrugged nonchalantly, but Garcia was almost jumping out of her seat. "I know! I got here early enough to talk to the decorator! She said Hotch got in touch with her a week ago, the same day you guys left for this trip. He had it all arranged and said that if they were still here today, he would call her to go forward with the plans. He had everything planned down to the smallest detail." She waved the elegantly scripted seating cards. "Sir, if you ever go into wedding planning, I am so hiring you."

The rest of the table laughed as Hotch's cheeks reddened at the compliment. He turned to look at Emily who stared at him with large, soft eyes. Another smile curved across his face.

"Thank you," she murmured. "This is just so sweet of you."

"You're welcome," he said in a low voice. He glanced around but the others were preoccupied chatting among themselves or still exclaiming over the decorations. "Sorry about this morning, but I couldn't let Rossi ruin my plans by taking you to dinner."

"Oh," she blinked, wondering if that was all there was behind his coldness this morning. She remembered her conversation with JJ earlier that day. Could Hotch be jealous of Gibbs or was she right and there was still some resentment over what he had to do to protect her? However, now he was saying it was merely a ploy to make sure they were all here at the hotel tonight. Emily bit her lip in uncertainty. He noticed the troubled look in her eye.

"Emily?" he asked in concern.

She mentally shook herself and tried to smile reassuringly at him, but she saw his eyes narrow suspiciously. This was why she needed to avoid him whenever she had a secret to hide. The man was relentless in ferreting things out. She tried to deflect. Emily murmured, "Hotch, this must have cost you a fortune. You really shouldn't have."

He was still looking at her doubtfully. While he knew she was concerned about the cost of this party, he was also pretty certain that wasn't what had been troubling her earlier. However, now was not the time to press her. It was her birthday party and Hotch was going to make certain she had a good time. He could grill her later on the troubled look in her pretty brown eyes. He smiled at her, flashing a dimple.

"You're worth every penny."

She gave him a shy smile. A waiter interrupted their quiet moment by leaning over to fill her wine glass.

He had worked with the hotel chef on the menu which had a decided Asian Fusion influence. The chef had suggested French, but given Emily had been stuck in Paris for months, alone, Hotch had swiftly shot down that suggestion. His choice had been the right one as everyone devoured the food, complimenting it lavishly.

By the time dessert rolled around, Emily wasn't certain she could be any more surprised until they brought out the cake.

It wasn't a large cake, since there were only seven people, but it was a piece of exquisite art. Keeping with the white theme, the outside of it was a masterpiece of delicate lace work in frosting with realistic roses and lilies intertwined between the complex threads of the lacework. A dusting of fine edible crystallized powder made the cake glisten and shine. No writing or candles marred the lovely perfection of the cake, but it by no means needed it. Everyone stared at it in amazement and Garcia and JJ pulled out their phones once more to take pictures.

"It's too beautiful to cut into," Emily breathed out as she admired the cake.

"Oh no, you have to try it," Hotch said as he handed her a knife. When he saw her still hesitating, he chuckled and moved her hand over to the cake. For one brief moment as Hotch manipulated Emily's hand, they looked almost like a bride and groom about to cut their wedding cake. Neither was aware of the picture they presented, but Garcia and JJ certainly were and both made sure to snap several photos to share with Emily later and use in some good-natured teasing.

While the outside of the cake was white, as Emily sliced into it, she saw it was a dense, dark, chocolate cake inside. Carefully, she cut generous portions for each of her friends and when everyone had a chance to taste it, even the men sighed in rapture.

Full of fine food, wine and cake, Morgan leaned back in his chair and shot Hotch a teasing look. "So man, what are you going to do for my birthday?"

"Beer and peanuts at the sports bar," Hotch replied blandly, causing everyone, including Morgan to chuckle. The two men exchanged looks and Derek tilted his head slightly. Another step had been made towards repairing the fractured bond between them. The younger man appreciated what Hotch had done for Emily and he was saying things were getting back to normal between them. Hotch inclinded his head slightly to acknowledge this.

Emily watched the small, subtle exchange and let out a relieved breath. She hated to have been the reason there was any conflict between the team, especially between Hotch and Morgan. While she had managed to help fix things between Reid and JJ, she wasn't sure what she could do to help Hotch with Morgan. Both men were too stubborn to listen to anyone else. She was glad to see that things appeared to be healing.

Presents were next and they showed the care and thoughtfulness each person had taken in selecting it. From Garcia there was a basket filled with spa items, fragrant soaps and bubble bath, lotions and loofahs. But it was the pair of delicate slippers that Penelope had knitted herself that Emily cherished the most in the large basket. Morgan had given her an early edition of Kurt Vonnegut's "Cats Cradle." Reid's gift was the new DVD box set of Dr. Who and a promise to sit and watch the entire set with her. Rossi had given her a framed, delicate, original mid-eighteenth century drawing of a woman who bore a close resemblance to Emily. The Italian shrugged and said, "Who knows? Could have been an ancestor." JJ had given her a music box that played "Edelweiss" because Emily loved "The Sound of Music." And Hotch's gift? It made Emily both laugh and nearly cry. It was obvious that Jack had made the gift himself from the shaky handwriting on it to the crude, childish drawing of two figures who looked like they were wearing dresses, but were meant to be aprons. The piece of paper said, "Good for one piza and movie nite with Jack + Daddy."

Emily smiled as she looked at the last gift and tried hard not to cry. "Thank you," she said softly, feeling for the first time that she was truly home and that things were right again. "This has all been so wonderful."

They knew she would be embarrassed if they saw her crying so they turned their attention away from her and JJ let out a loud sigh.

"Honestly, I cannot move right now," JJ groaned. "This sure beats the Cheetos I was planning to eat in my room."

Garcia tapped JJ's shoulder as she stood up. "Come on, Cheeto Breath, I'll help you to your room. I have the one next door to it."

That was the cue for everyone to get up from the table and turn in for the night. They were scheduled to leave at 9 am tomorrow morning. Rossi asked if Emily needed help taking her gifts back to her room. Before she could respond, Hotch simply said, "No need. I'll walk her to her room."

* * *

><p><strong>AN 2: I know, probably a little OOC for Hotch to make such a grand gesture, or is it? I do think Hotch has the capacity and imagination to do something like this (remember, he joined a musical to get close to Haley) and even if you don't go in for the romance aspect of it, I did try to hint that Emily's had three really lousy birthdays in a row, so I can see Hotch making the effort to do something very nice for her on this birthday, especially since it's her first one back with the team and they're all together now. I admit, it's a little sappy and I tend to not write that way, but I did say this was going to be a little romance ditty!**

**Don't forget that the 2nd Annual Profilers Choice Award for Criminal Minds fiction is now open for nominations. I think this weekend is the last day you can send in a nomination ballot. The ballots are found in the discussion forum (when in the list of stories for the CM fan fiction section, look to the top right hand corner of your screen and you'll see a link for "Discussion Forums"), Chit Chat on Authors Corner, 2011 Profilers Choice CM Awards - Nomination Ballot.**

**Thanks again for reading, and please leave some feedback if you can. Merci!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I know I said this would be a four-shot, but…I don't like how this ends and it was getting a little too long. So there will be one more part to it just to tie up a few loose ends. And for those who asked, no, this isn't technically a part of my "A Rose By Any Other Name" universe crossover with NCIS. It actually wouldn't fit for what I have planned there. But there is a presumption in this story that Team Hotch and Team Gibbs know each other and that Emily is good friends with Team Gibbs. Sappiness alert is still in affect.**

It was only 11 pm, but the hallway was deserted as Hotch and Emily walked silently towards her room. He was carrying the large spa basket under one arm and carefully held the framed picture in his other hand. Emily unlocked her door and he followed her into the room. Hotch moved over to the desk, intent on setting the basket and picture there, but his step faltered slightly when he saw the large bouquet of yellow roses. He had wondered what had become of Emily's birthday flowers since they disappeared from the station sometime in the latemorning. He had his answer now. Someone must have brought them back here. It wasn't Emily as he had her with him the entire day. He suspected JJ or Morgan did her the favor. They had both done the lunch run today. He frowned at the happy looking roses, the feeling of irritation he had that morning when he first saw them coming back to him. He set the basket on the desk and gently placed the picture next to it. He schooled his features before he turned to look at her.

"Hotch, thank you again for the beautiful birthday," she said. She peered closely at him, noticing a slight cooling in his eyes that was not there a moment earlier. "Is everything okay?"

He tried to not sound stiff and cold, but the slight change in the tone of his voice set off an alarm bell in Emily's head. "Yeah. I was wondering what happened to the flowers." He jerked a thumb towards the yellow roses. "They seemed to have disappeared from the station."

Emily looked over at the yellow roses and her conversation with JJ earlier that day came back to her. She stole a glance at Hotch whose expression remained neutral, but it was obvious he wasn't the same warm man who she had spent the last few hours with at dinner. He had changed as soon as he saw the roses. She wondered if JJ could be right and Hotch was upset in some way about her relationship with Gibbs? Even in her own mind, Emily couldn't bring herself to use the word "jealous". She simply didn't think Hotch looked at her in that way.

"When Morgan and JJ went to go get lunch, she offered to bring the flowers back here because they were a bit of a distraction at the station." She didn't add that JJ's exact words were, "The sight of those flower are driving Hotch crazy. Better let me take them back to the hotel before he throws them out the window."

Hotch didn't realize he was nodding his head in agreement. He dug deeply and made an attempt at being generous. "It was a very nice gesture by Agent Gibbs. I hadn't realized the two of you had grown so close." Of course he knew they were close. He knew that they sometimes met for a drink or dinner. He knew Gibbs had called her occasionally for help on a case, asking her advice as a profiler. He knew that Emily had called Gibbs once or twice to help with a household repair, once a leaking pipe another time with some new shelves because the man was just so freaking handy. Hotch just hoped the other man kept his hands only on his tools and off his agent.

"Hotch?" Emily had watched with some concern as Hotch's expression seemed to grow darker. "Gibbs and I are friends. He knows about my string of bad birthdays and he just likes to make sure that I have something nice for my birthday."

"Just how close are you two?" Hotch asked, giving her one of his piercing looks as he crossed his arms over his chest. He realized how that question sounded and immediately began to backtrack a little. "Uh, I don't want NCIS stealing one of my agents."

Emily felt herself deflate a little hearing his words. Oh, it was about poaching agents. She sighed. "Don't worry. Gibbs isn't interested in recruiting me for NCIS. He's got a full team." She moved over to the bed to put down the gifts she had been carrying. She looked over at Hotch who was regarding her with concerned eyes. "Is there something else?"

He noticed that she seemed a little…sad for some reason. She had been so happy at the dinner. Was Emily upset that he had questioned her about her relationship with Agent Gibbs? A thought hit Hotch, maybe she was sad because her relationship with Gibbs was nothing more than friendship. He felt a pang of regret for possibly causing her some pain and a deeper regret that it was possible that Emily had feelings for another man that went beyond friendship.

_And __why __shouldn__'__t __she?_He thought to himself. She was young, beautiful, compassionate and had so much to offer someone. Any man would be a fool if he _didn__'__t_ fall for Emily Prentiss. And he knew he was the biggest fool of them all keeping this incredible woman at arms length. Before he knew it, someone will snatch her up from under his nose and he will be just sitting in his office filled with regrets.

Hotch sighed internally and shoved his hands into his trouser pockets. His fingers collided with a small box that he had been carrying with him since they left Quantico. For one second, he thought about just leaving it in his pocket but the next second, the image of Emily with another man, with Agent Gibbs, filled his mind.

"Yes, there is something else," he said. He pulled out the small box from his pocket and held it out to her. "I have one more gift for you." He looked slightly embarrassed or shy, she wasn't sure which since she had seen neither emotion on his face before. "I didn't want to give it to you in front of the others."

"Oh no, Hotch," she protested. "You've given me so much already."

"It's really nothing," he assured her, trying to downplay what he had done that night and the gift. He didn't know what had possessed him to get it in the first place, but when he saw it two weeks ago in the window of a little antique store in Seattle, it had screamed 'Emily' to him. Before he even knew what was happening, he was inside the store and the shopkeeper was ringing up his purchase. The entire transaction had taken less than five minutes and he was back on the street where Rossi and Reid were still examining the dump site, the alley two doors down from the antiques store. Neither man had even missed him.

From the rectangular shape and the black velvet, she knew it was a necklace of some kind. Emily looked up at him in surprise. Hotch was giving her jewelry? When a man gave you jewelry, it meant something. With her stomach tied in nervous knots, she slowly opened the box.

Nestled against the black velvet was a gold pendent on a gold chain. The pendent was a delicate rose. A true artist had created it. Though it was less than an inch big, the detail of the rose was amazing. Emily could see each individual petal was lovingly rendered and one even had the tiniest dew drop on it. The rose looked as though it was real and Emily had only to bend forward slightly and she would be able to breath in its sweet fragrance.

"It's gorgeous," she said softly.

"I've noticed since you've been back that you haven't worn any necklaces and you always used to. I'm not sure if it's a style choice or…preference, but I thought you might like to start wearing them again." Hotch didn't mention that he also wondered if her jewelry was another thing she had lost during the time Doyle was a threat to her.

He may not have said it, but Emily knew Hotch was thinking her lack of variety in jewelry was due to losing many of her possessions while she was "dead". It was. During the months she was forced to hide, most of her things had been sold, given away or lost, among them much of her jewelry, some with great sentimental attachment to them. She appreciated his tact and was touched by the sentiment behind the gift even more, though she was a little disappointed that the gift was only because he was felt bad for the loss of her personal possessions.. "Thank you," she said again.

"I'm glad you like it," he said and he gave her a smile.

"Do you mind?" she asked as she held out the necklace to him.

Hotch stepped forward and took it from her. As Emily held her hair up, he gently placed it around her neck and fastened the clasp. For a second his fingers brushed against the delicate skin of her neck. She suppressed the shivers his touch invoked. Hotch placed his hands on her shoulders and said, "All done."

He could smell her fragrant hair and the very tips of his fingers brushed against the softest skin in the world. The rational side of him screamed at him to step back away from her, but his hands had a mind of their own as they came up to gently rest on her shoulders.

Emily moved forward, away from those dangerous hands. She wanted those hands to travel to other places on her body, but knew they would never make such a trip. He simply didn't see her in that way. She tried to calm her racing heart, annoyed that a simple touch from him could affect her so much. She walked over to the mirror above the desk to look at the necklace.

In the low light the two lit lamps in the room cast and with the exquisite workmanship on the pendent, the rose glowed warmly against her porcelain skin. Hotch came to stand behind her and he looked at their reflection.

"It looks good on you," he said quietly. "Very good."

She blushed prettily, causing Hotch to smile at her. Emily laughed to hide her nervousness. "It seems roses were the theme for my birthday." She regretted her words as soon as she heard them. She saw Hotch's eyes flick towards the bouquet of yellow roses. She spun around quickly to face him and then found any words dying on her lips as their bodies inadvertently brushed against each other. She hadn't realized how close he had been standing behind her.

When she spun around, her chest brushed against his and her hands grazed against the front of his thighs. Hotch felt a frisson of heat go through his body and he knew his eyes reflected back his body's reaction to her touch. His rational mind was screaming at him to get out of the room and away from her, but one part was quietly telling him to stop acting like a coward and reach out for what he wanted, to reach out for her. In that moment, Aaron Hotchner decided for once to stop listening to his rational mind and instead, listen to his heart.

"I have one more gift for you," he said softly. He raised one hand to gently cup her cheek. The other hand came up to frame her lovely face and hold her still though he needn't had done that, Emily was too surprised to move. Slowly he moved forward and then pressed his mouth against her slightly parted lips.

It was a chaste kiss. Simply lips pressing against lips. He made no move to deepen it, allowing her to say how far it should go. He began to worry when she didn't respond in any way until he heard Emily let out a small whimper. Her arms came up to snake around his neck and her body pressed close to his. She slanted her mouth at an angle to deepen the kiss and her tongue gently brushed his.

It was all Hotch needed. One hand threaded through her silky hair and the other traveled down to her back to pull her tight against him. Aggressively, his tongue dueled with hers, causing her to moan. He started to back her up until her legs hit her bed and she fell backwards, taking him with her.

One of his hands came down to cup her breast and one of her legs began to wrap around him. The need for oxygen forced them to break the kiss. Panting they gasped for air. Hotch stared down into her bright eyes, flushed cheeks and swollen lips. His body hardened at the picture she made and he heard the sigh she let out as she felt him pressing intimately against her. He dropped his head into her neck.

"We shouldn't be doing this," he murmured into her sweet skin.

She swallowed her disappointment. She knew Hotch would never do this, not with someone he supervised. But it was so unfair! She knew they would be perfect for each other. She sighed and nodded her head.

Hotch looked up and stroked her cheek as she tried to give him a brave smile. "I don't want our first time to be in some hotel room. I need to take you out to dinner, just the two of us. I want to make love to you in a place of our own. Not be on the road where we've been chasing a serial killer. I want our first time to be special and about us."

Emily blinked up at him. Did he just say the only reason he was stopping was because they were in a hotel room on a case? She looked at him in confusion. "So…you want to try? With me?"

The surprise in her voice and face made Hotch chuckle. What heterosexual man wouldn't want to be with Emily? He dropped a kiss on her nose. "Of course I do," he responded quietly. "I just don't want our start to be in some anonymous hotel room." He brushed back a strand of hair that had fallen across her forehead. "You deserve better."

She smiled sweetly at him and snuggled up closer to his side. They laid there on the bed for a few minutes, Emily tucked up close next to Hotch. He stroked her hair as she held her hand over his beating heart. His strokes were soothing and it had been a long day for both of them. They were both exhausted, but Hotch could tell she wasn't falling asleep. He knew she had been trying to hide it with make-up, but he had noticed the dark circles under her eyes.

"You must be tired," he said softly.

She made some noncommittal noise.

"How much sleep have you been getting since you've been back?"

Emily sighed. Of course he would notice. She pulled back and propped herself up on one elbow so she could look at him. "How did you know?"

"The tea or rather, the lack of coffee," Hotch replied. "Like the rest of us, you used to drink it by the gallon, but suddenly you weren't anymore. And I doubt being in Paris seven months, changed your habits. The French like their caffeine too. Plus there's the eye make-up." He reached up a thumb to wipe away a little bit of her concealer. Hotch looked sharply at her. "Nightmares?"

She sighed again and snuggled closer to him. Hotch tightened his arms around her. "Sometimes it's nightmares. Other times I just can't seem to fall asleep. I try working out until I'm exhausted. I try reading boring books. Counting sheep, nothing seems to work."

"How many hours do you get in a night?"

"About four, five if I'm lucky."

"Emily, that's not enough."

She wouldn't look at him as she buried her head under his chin and spoke into his chest. "It's what I got in Paris…I sometimes got less there."

"Hey." He tilted her chin up so he could see her face. "You're not in Paris. You don't have to keep looking over your shoulder. You're safe. I'm here. So is the rest of the team. You're not alone anymore and if I have anything to say about it, you won't be ever again."

Her eyes filled with tears over the simple, heartfelt words from this incredibly complex man. Aaron Hotchner was complicated in every way but his emotions. When he loved and cared, he did so wholeheartedly. Once again, she lay down next to him, feeling him draw her closer.

"I know you said you didn't want our first time to be in a hotel, but could you just stay with me a little while? Just until I fall asleep?" She would have hated how needy she sounded, but with this man, it didn't seem to matter.

Hotch smiled against her hair. "I'll stay with you all night."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: And here is the last part. This story went on much longer than I intended and it's probably a little more romance-y than I typically write. Hope folks enjoyed it and if you have a moment let me know what you think. Thanks!**

She felt warm and safe and for the first time in months, she got more than four hours of consecutive sleep. Emily was in that state between sleep and wakefulness and she was more than happy to choose sleep as the place to reside in for a little while longer. She burrowed closer to the warmth next to her. Her nose twitched as she registered a smell. The smell was of sandalwood, musk and something else that was unique, but niggled with persistent familiarity at the back of Emily's still slumbering mind. She took a deeper breath. It was a masculine smell, a scent that made her think very clearly "man" and it made her blood hum with heat. It was also achingly familiar. Recognition hit her and her eyes shot open. She found herself staring into an expanse of white and realized she was nestled against soft white cotton. Slowly, Emily tilted her head upward and her eyes met Aaron Hotchner's.

"Good morning," he said in a voice roughened by sleep.

Emily swallowed, just the sound of his voice eliciting goosebumps along her skin. "Good morning," she replied, her own voice huskier than usual.

She saw a flare of heat in his eyes and knew she had not been the only one affected by the morning greetings. She laid her head on his shoulder and sighed.

"You slept the entire night," he murmured, his lips in her hair, his hand stroking her bare shoulder.

"Mmmhmmm," she breathed out. She stretched a little, her lithe body rubbing against his and she heard him suck his breath in sharply. Emily hid a satisfied little smile as she snuggled along his side once more. "I'm still tired though."

"It's because you haven't been getting enough sleep for months. You can take a nap on the plane, but we've got to get moving now," Hotch told her in a low voice. One hand patted her hip gently and with great reluctance, he began to disentangle himself from her and the sheets. He got up from the bed and stared down at her with an amused smile on his face. She was still lying down among the rumpled sheets, her hair disheveled, her face clean of makeup, and eyes heavy lidded.

Before they had fallen asleep the night before, Emily had changed into her pajamas, washed her face and brushed her teeth. Hotch had gone back to his room across the hall to also get ready for bed, but was back in Emily's room in a less than ten minutes. They had climbed into Emily's bed and safely tucked into Hotch's embrace, she had fallen asleep almost immediately and slept through the night. He got less sleep, being content to simply watch her as she slept in his arms, her own private guard against nightmares.

He had missed holding a woman in his arms all night, falling asleep with her, waking up with her. He missed a warm, soft body pressed against his, the sweet smell of her hair, the feel of silken skin. He wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed with her and pull her back into his embrace, but they needed to meet the others for breakfast and then get out to the airport.

Hotch did stoop down to kiss her gently on the mouth. It was supposed to be a gentle, see you in a few minutes kiss, but Emily had other ideas. Her hand came up to cup the back of his head and draw him towards her and he went willingly when he was suddenly pulled back into the bed, his body covering hers. The little minx wriggled underneath him, sending bolts of lust throughout his body, hardening parts that urged him to forget breakfast and the plane and stay with the beautiful woman underneath him. Hotch groaned and tore his lips away from hers. He looked down into her flushed face, her lips swollen and pouting.

"You're dangerous," he gasped as he tried to suck in much needed air.

Emily let out a low, wicked laugh that made every molecule in his body scream at his brain to just shut up and just take her. She leaned up to whisper in his ear, "You ain't seen nothing yet." She bit his ear lobe lightly.

Hotch groaned and with every ounce of self-control, pushed himself off of her. He stood and stepped a safe distance away from the enticing siren on the bed who now propped herself up on her elbows to look naughtily at him.

"Go get ready," he said in mock severity. "We need to meet the others for breakfast in an hour."

Emily sighed and hugged a pillow towards her. Hotch smiled at the picture she made. She looked better with a few hours of sleep, but she still looked tired and far thinner than his liking. He silently vowed to make it his mission to make sure Emily slept and ate well. He smiled internally, knowing how enjoyable of a task that was going to be.

"I'll be back in 45 minutes," he warned her.

Emily grumbled something in reply but started to get out of bed. Hotch paused by the door, enjoying the sight of a sleep rumpled Emily dressed only in a loose fitting tank top and shorts. She caught him watching her and playfully threw a pillow at him.

Hotch ducked and slipped out of the room, the smile on his face mirrored on Emily's.

As soon as he was gone, Emily took a quick shower. She wiped the steam-fogged mirror in the bathroom and stared at her reflection. The shadows were still under her eyes, but even she could see she looked better than she had in a months. She marveled at how easy and right it felt to sleep in Hotch's arms and how restorative one night with him had been. She smiled a crooked grin and a glint that had been missing for so long appeared in her eye. She only wondered how she would look and feel after things had progressed beyond simply sleeping in his arms.

Emily shook her head and knew she needed to get moving. One thing about Hotch was his obsessive punctuality and when he said he would be back in 45 minutes, he will be back in 45 minutes. Quickly she blew dry her hair, being slightly more lazy in her ministrations so her hair fell about in soft waves instead of the usual ruler straight strands she had been sporting lately. She did her make-up and dressed.

Packing became a bit of a conundrum for Emily. While the DVDs, music box, book and certificate from Jack could be easily packed in her go-bag, the picture, flowers and basket could not. She would need help from Hotch to carry everything down to the car. While she knew he would be happy to help, she also knew he probably would like to see the flowers remain here.

Touching the petals of one rose with her finger tips, Emily smiled slightly. She couldn't leave Gibbs' thoughtful gift behind. Whether Hotch liked it or not, there was a special place for the cranky Marine in her heart. He was a good friend to her and Emily kept her friends close. Hotch may not like it, but she knew he understood. He was like that as well, and for her sake, he would tolerate Gibbs.

The man in question was knocking on her door, exactly 45 minutes later. She opened the door to let him in, a twinge of exasperation marring her pretty features.

"You'll have to help me carry everything down," she said as she let him into her room. She gestured to her assembled luggage which consisted of her go-bag, her laptop bag, the framed picture, the basket, and the vase of yellow roses.

It was on the tip of Hotch's tongue to suggest she leave the roses, but knew she never would. They were a gift and a very thoughtful one. He just didn't like who they came from. However, Hotch had resigned himself to the fact that there would likely be other men in Emily's life who came under the friend category. He had no concerns about Emily's fidelity and loyalty, he simply didn't like anyone trying to make a move on his girl. While he was certain he need no worry about that with Gibbs, there was also the unfortunate fact that the two men did not like each other. However, Hotch kept quiet and simply nodded his head. For her sake, he would tolerate the bad-tempered NCIS agent. It was a small price to pay to be with her. He grabbed her go-bag, the basket and the framed picture. Regardless of the fact that he had decided he would tolerate Gibbs in their lives, he still was not going to carry those roses. Emily smiled her thanks and picked up her laptop bag and the vase with the flowers before they left her room.

After a quick breakfast, the entire team made their way to the airport. They were just about to board when Emily heard her name called out.

"Emily!"

Everyone turned their heads to see who could be hailing Prentiss and they saw Detective John Stanford rushing up to them. He smiled at the pretty agent he had been admiring all week and rushed to her.

"Detective," Hotch greeted him coolly as he casually stepped between the man and Prentiss, a move Emily immediately recognized as one an alpha male would make to keep a potential threat from his mate. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "What can we do for you?"

"I'm glad I caught you before you left," Stanford replied, ignoring Hotch and staring at Emily. He handed her a gift wrapped in gold paper and tied with a dark purple ribbon. "I wanted to say thank you for your help. All of you," he belatedly included the others though his eyes immediately returned to Emily. "And wish you a belated happy birthday. It's just a small gift I wanted to make sure you had."

Emily was surprised and she gave the man a soft smile. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Hotch's clenched jaw and narrowed-eyed glare directed at the detective. Exasperation warred with amusement. Really, was he going to act this way with every man that spoke to her?

"John, that was so sweet of you! You definitely didn't have to."

"I wanted to, Emily," he said gently. "It's a box of chocolates. Remember you tried one the other day and said you liked them."

"I did," she smiled. "It was so thoughtful of you to remember. I love the gift."

He grinned at her. "I hope you're out here again sometime soon. Maybe I can finally buy you that dinner."

"Highly unlikely," Hotch said in a tight, clipped voice. A gift for her birthday is one thing, talking about taking her to dinner while he was standing there, that was crossing a line. "I would hope your city wouldn't be plagued by another serial killer so soon. It was very considerate of you, Detective Stanford, to give Agent Prentiss a birthday gift, but we do have a schedule to keep." With a sharp nod of his head, he put his hand under Emily's elbow and started to steer her to the waiting jet.

She looked up at him in surprised and found herself being hurried along. "Thank you, John! Thank you very much!" she called back as Hotch continued moving her along at a fast pace. He shifted his arm to lie across her back, pressing her along with even more force. She had no choice but to trot alongside him. "That wasn't nice!" she hissed at him.

Hotch looked down at her even as they continued their fast clip towards the plane. She looked annoyed, but not truly angry. In fact, she looked a little amused.

"He was just being nice," she said in a mild tone.

Hotch snorted. Gibbs he was willing to put up with since he knew Emily liked the man and they were already friends. But he would be damned if he would put up with the local law enforcement trying to move in on _his_ girl.

"We're running late," he mumbled as he continued to rush them along.

Emily gave him a sidelong glance but wisely kept quiet until they were all on the plane and then in the air. When the pilot leveled off at the desired cruising altitude, Emily opened the box of gourmet chocolates and offered them to Hotch. "Want one?"

He glared at her and returned to the files he had been reading. They had sequestered themselves at one of the tables near the front of the plane, sitting on opposite sides. Emily selected one chocolate and bit into it, moaning her appreciation. The sound caught Hotch's attention and he stared at her, transfixed by the look of rapture on her face as she savored the sweet confection. He felt his body stir at the sight. Emily opened her eyes and she caught him watching her. Slowly, she licked the remaining chocolate from her lips and sucked on her fingers. Hotch's nostrils flared and she saw a muscle twitch in his jaw.

"You weren't very nice to Detective Stanford," she murmured to him.

Wha-? Stanford? Hotch was shaken rudely from his erotic thoughts by her comment. He harrumphed and settled back in his seat, no longer hypnotized by how Emily ate a chocolate.

"He needed to be informed of something very important," he said in a clipped voice.

Emily leaned forward across the table, pushing the box of chocolates aside. "And what's that?"

Hotch glanced behind him to make sure everyone else was preoccupied before he leaned also leaned forward across the table until his face was mere inches from her. He spoke in a soft, seductive voice, "That you're mine, Emily. And any man who thinks otherwise will find himself in a world of hurt."

It was possessive, chauvinistic and her feminist side should have been snorting out an angry retort, but his voice, the heated look of hunger in his eye, and the way his hands were stroking hers as they rested on the table between them, all combined to only send a rush of desire to her core and it was all she could do to make sure she didn't leap across the table and attack him.

"And are you going to show me what it means to be yours?" she asked in a low, husky voice.

A smile tipped the corners of his lips. "Jack is with his grandparents for the rest of the weekend. I intend to spend that entire time showing you, over and over again."

"Hey, either of you want coffee?"

Hotch and Emily snapped back from each other and sank into their seats. They looked up with flushed faces at Reid who stood by their table holding a stack of paper cups in one hand and the coffee carafe in the other. He held both up with an inquiring look on his face.

The couple exchanged looks and Hotch silently communicated the word "soon" to her. She gave him a small smile. _I __can __hardly __wait_, the smile said back at him.

Hotch took a cup of coffee, but Emily declined and Reid went ambling back to the kitchenette. Hotch had suggested she take a nap, but Emily said she was feeling fine after having gotten a good night's sleep last night. She winked at him and he had smiled slightly at her. She started reading the novel she had brought with her, but a few minutes later, he noticed her eyelids starting to droop.

"Take a nap," he ordered her quietly. She glared at him but he simply stared back at her. "I'd like you to be well rested for the weekend." That got her interest and she raised an eyebrow at him. He smiled. "Feet." She looked at him in confusion and then he patted the seat next to him. With a grin, she slipped off her ankle boots and stretched her legs out until her feet were tucked in between the side of the plane and Hotch. He rubbed her feet gently, soothing and relaxing her.

Eventually, Emily pushed her seat back and her eye lids began to droop again. Soon, her breathing evened out and she started to sleep as Hotch continued to gently rub her feet.

* * *

><p>Rossi tapped Hotch on the shoulder to get his attention. Hotch started. He had been watching Emily sleep, a sight which he knew he would never tire. However, he had forgotten he was on the BAU jet surrounded by his team. Rossi looked over at the sleeping Emily and back at Hotch.<p>

"It's good that she's sleeping," the older man said. "She's been trying to hide it, but obviously she hasn't been getting much sleep." Rossi tilted his head to the side and contemplated Emily. "Though, it looks like she got some sleep last night." He sent Hotch a sly look. "I guess all that excitement wore her out. The surprise birthday party, I mean."

Hotch simply looked at him with a stony expression on his face. Rossi shook his head and bent down to say to him in a voice only Hotch could hear. "You outted yourself last night, my friend. Only someone who's head over heels would go through that much trouble for a woman." He patted Hotch's shoulder. "Don't worry. We all think it's a good thing for both of you." He turned and made his way back to his seat, leaving Hotch feeling equal parts relieved and equal parts exasperated.

The rest of the trip past uneventfully, Emily sleeping most of the way. Hotch made a mental note to get some food into her as soon as they landed and then make sure she was tucked into bed right after that. Ideally, with him beside her.

As the pilot announced that he was about to make his descent, Hotch gently squeezed Emily's foot where it rested by his thigh and softly called out her name. He watched as she snuffled and her eyelids fluttered before they slowly opened. She stared blankly at him for a moment and then yawned and nodded her head.

"Are we there?" she asked as she yawned again.

Hotch suppressed a grin as he watched her look around with a confused look on her face. "Almost," he said. "You have enough time to freshen up."

Emily nodded and with her feet, felt around under the table for her boots. She put them back on and made her way towards the lavatory. When she came back a few minutes later, Hotch had already packed up his paperwork and was staring out the window. Instead of sitting across from him, she slid down into the seat next to him. After a quick glance to determine where everyone else was and what they were doing, she laced her fingers with his. Hotch smiled at her as she grinned at him.

"Did I tell you thank you for making my birthday so special?" she asked him in a low voice as she leaned against his shoulder.

"You may have mentioned it once or twice," he murmured back, enjoying the feel of her body pressed up against his.

"Well, just in case, thank you for making it the best birthday ever." Her eyes shone brightly at him and Hotch felt his heart do a small little flip.

He gave her hand a squeeze. "I promise you, Emily, if you let me, I'll make sure every day is your birthday."

Her smile turned brilliant and she chuckled in a low tone. "Cheesy, but sweet and beautiful." She sighed as she looked out the window. "I didn't know where I would be three months ago," she said in a quiet voice.

Hotch stilled. Emily hadn't spoken about her time away when she was hiding form Doyle and separated from everyone she loved, when he was separated from her.

"I thought I would be spending my birthday alone, and maybe every birthday after that," she continued in a low voice.

The loneliness in her tone broke Hotch's heart. Not caring if the rest of the team saw them, he slipped his hand from hers so he could wrap his arm around her shoulders and pull her closer to him. He kissed her hair.

"Just know, as long as I'm around, you will never have to worry about spending a birthday alone."

Tears filled her eyes and Emily let out a watery chuckle. "I think you just gave me the best birthday present ever."

Hotch smiled down at her and he held her closer to him as the plane came in for a landing. Emily nestled her head against his shoulder, breathing in his scent and perhaps for the first time in her life, she felt completely at peace and happy. For most of the forty years she had been alive, she had come to hate her birthday. It signaled the passage of time that seemed to move more quickly with each passing year. In recent years, it brought home to her how alone she sometimes felt. But on her fortieth year on this Earth, she found a reason that the day should be celebrated and that reason was sitting beside her, his arm wrapped around her and a promise of more wonderful birthdays ahead. As the plane descended, breaking through the clouds to gently make its way back to Earth and to home, Emily was a year older, a little wiser and much happier than she had ever been before.

**Fini.**


End file.
